Active Minds, a mental health awareness organization that was present at Join a Club Day on Feb. 20, aims to end the silence on suicide and promotes mental health awareness in a way that has inspired students to join and become advocates.
The campus organization had a booth at Join a Club Day with mental health resources, suicide prevention and stress hotline information, candies, and members that helped students join their cause for mental health awareness.
Among their many resources, Active Minds promoted an exhibit called “Send Silence Packing,” a nationally recognized exhibit they have participated in for more than a decade now.
The exhibit has been held at multiple colleges for more than a decade and encourages students to break the silence surrounding suicide and to speak up about their mental health issues in order to strengthen community and alleviate stigma.
Club Officer Olivia Pezo talked about the origins of “Send Silence Packing.”
“It was founded by a woman whose brother committed suicide while in attendance at college,” Pezo said.
Backpacks have become the symbol for the exhibit and there was a detailed flyer handed out at the organizations Join a Club Day booth, detailing the symbolic history of the backpacks.
The flyer depicted what seemed like hundreds of backpacks on the grounds of National Mall in Washington, DC in 2008, with each backpack symbolizing a student who was silent about their mental health needs and committed suicide.
Some LBCC students have shared their opinions about the importance of mental health awareness on campus, like second semester student Asia Banyaga who supports the Active Minds cause.
“People are too hard on themselves and already have outside issues, plus their concerns over studies and careers. They need these services,” Banyaga said.
LBCC Leonela Chaj, who is currently enrolled in public health courses, talked about mental health stigma and what she finds important about mental health awareness.
“We were talking about mental health [in Intro to Public Health class] and how important that it is… Reducing the stigma behind mental health and how that’s so important, especially for understood communities, minorities,” Chaj said.
She talked about her personal account with minorities and the climate surrounding mental health.
“I can only speak for the Hispanic community that I work with, but there’s such a stigma with mental health and talking about it and being vulnerable. It’s so healthy, it’s so good for you to release,” Chaj said.
“Even for myself, I never grew up with going to a therapist like that, where I had access to those things, so I realize how important it is now that I do have access to that, how beneficial it is.”
Chaj explained her motive for deciding to join Active Minds on Join a Club Day as advocacy for her personal identity as a minority.
“I think it’d be a great way to connect and be an advocate, especially as a minority myself,” Chaj said.
“I realize if you don’t have people of your own kind doing that- there’s a benefit in that, where you can build trust and rapport with those communities and we need more people like that as advocates.”
Active Minds is hosting awareness events for “Send Silence Packing” every other Thursday, at 12 p.m. beginning Feb. 27, at LBCC Liberal Arts Campus in the Fish Bowl, Building E.